


Incandescent

by madamteatime



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, M/M, Mpreg, Royal arranged marriage, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-25 01:50:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3792094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamteatime/pseuds/madamteatime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sun lord marries a prince of the moon</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Moon Prince

**Author's Note:**

> heavily inspired by [Jodhaa Akbar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B_X2xOBpFc)

Prince Changmin paces the grand hall of the moon palace. His sky blue robes fan out behind him with each step, the loose material a contrast to the silver vest and pants that cling to his body beneath it. A silver circlet rests on his curly brown hair and glimmers with sapphire gems in the candlelight. Bracelets that mark him as royalty adorn his wrists.

“It’s been too long. Where is the messenger?” Changmin says.

His mother the queen sighs from her throne. “Patience my son. It’s a full day’s ride from the border.”

“Are you not worried at all for my sister?” Changmin rounds on her. “Sooyeon is a brilliant general but her troops were limited, if she lost the battle – ”

“Calm yourself,” the queen turns bright eyes on him. “Come here.”

Changmin sighs and ascends the stairs to her throne. He kneels before her but the moon queen rises and takes his hand.

“You are a good son Changmin,” she says, patting his cheek. “I trust you will do the right thing.” Some nameless pain tightens her mouth and Changmin blinks. She can’t possibly mean. . .

The doors burst open and the royal messenger bursts in. He looks exhausted and sweat-streaked, having ridden hard to reach them in time.

“The border is lost,” he announces. “The sun lord marches on the capital.”

The queen’s fingers tighten on Changmin’s hands. “Sooyeon?” she breathes.

“Fled with a small company of soldiers. I do not know where she is now.”

Changmin turns to his mother with wide eyes. The news is not entirely unexpected – the sun lord had conquered most of the country and surrounding regions in recent years. His armies were frighteningly disciplined and his rule undisputed. 

Their kingdom was one of the last few standing in his way, but Changmin knew his mother’s heart – she did not want war.

The royal messenger approaches the throne and gets down on one knee.

“I have a message from the sun lord,” he says, and presents a scroll to the queen.

She reads it slowly, then passes it to Changmin. He expects a declaration of war – instead the scroll is a proposal of marriage for Changmin’s hand. His mother does not look surprised.

“He wishes to join our two kingdoms,” she says. Changmin crushes the scroll in his hand.

“Mother no,” he says. 

She turns sad eyes on him. “A war will devastate the land. Our people will die for nothing.”

Changmin clenches his teeth. “They are barbarians. Their ways are completely different to ours!”

“New ways can be learnt.”

“I was to marry the lord Siwon – ”

“Lord Siwon is not the most powerful ruler in the four kingdoms.”

Changmin swallows. It’s a losing battle and he knows it. The princes of the moon kingdom were highly prized, famed for their beauty and rumored to be blessed with powers normal men were not. The sun lord had deemed him a suitable consort, and that made him the most powerful bargaining chip they had whether he liked it or not.

“Very well,” he says through clenched teeth. “But I will not go gently.”

That night he writes a letter to his sister, angry and feeling betrayed.

_Come save me from this hell I beg of you. I can’t live like this, trapped in a loveless marriage to a brute. I miss you so and pray for your safety – Changmin_

He rolls the scroll up but doesn’t send it in the end, leaving it tucked away amongst his things.

\- - -

The sun lord’s armies set up camp at the base of the capital, and a feast is held where the proposal is accepted. Changmin’s first impression of the man is a tall and handsome soldier, with shoulder-length golden hair tied in a messy ponytail. He is wearing the traditional black vest and pants of his kingdom, bare arms ringed with gold.

Changmin watches from an upper balcony and narrows his eyes before turning away with a sniff. Custom dictates that they will not see each other until the wedding day.

The next day he demands an audience with his husband-to-be. It’s in defiance of expectations, but Changmin doesn’t intend to fold so easily.

He waits in a tent at the army’s encampment, a gauze curtain fluttering in the middle and dividing the space in two. Some decorum should be observed after all.

The sun lord enters and Changmin takes a deep breath. He’s more handsome in person than he realised.

“You wished to speak to me?” he says. It’s impossible to discern any feeling from his tone.

“My lord,” Changmin begins.

“Yunho. If we are to be wed then you should at least address me by my first name.” 

Changmin’s eyes flicker up and away. 

“My lord,” he repeats deliberately. He notices Yunho’s stance shift the merest inch – the slight has not gone unnoticed. “I have two requests of you, after which I shall have no more objections to this marriage.”

“I was not aware you had any objections to begin with. There are many who would wed me happily; I have no desire to force you into marriage.”

Changmin is silent. Their first meeting and it’s already fraught with tension.

After a while Yunho sighs and relaxes his stance. “Please,” he says. “Speak.” 

“I have only two requests of you,” Changmin repeats. “The first, that you allow me to continue to pray to the moon goddess and do not force me to convert to your sun gods.” It was known that everywhere the sun lord conquered so too did his religion; a quick and painless way to win the masses to his cause. “And the second, that you build a temple of the moon goddess in my rooms at your palace so that I may worship there.”

Yunho is silent. Changmin can’t tell if he’s insulted or not, and his stomach sinks when Yunho turns abruptly and leaves the tent. 

“Your prince has asked me not to convert him, and to have a temple built for him at my palace,” Yunho announces to the crowd outside. They listen with baited breath, their kingdom’s alliance hanging by a thread. 

Yunho fingers the hilt of his sword. “I find his fire impressive and his demands reasonable. I would be happy to grant the moon prince’s requests.”

An audible sigh of relief rises from the crowd.

Changmin clenches his fists and looks down, unsure if he’s glad or disappointed.

\- - -

They are wed on the winter equinox, when the moon is full; a lucky night.

Changmin wears robes of silk in shimmering silver, embroidered in thread that sparkles in the light. It cinches at the waist and leaves his arms bare. He is adorned in silver jewelry with a circlet of moonstones in his hair. Yunho wears red and gold, his outfit less elaborate than Changmin’s but the gold on his arms and wrists no less impressive. As part of the ceremony Yunho removes his silver bracelets and replaces them with ones of gold, and Changmin tries not to frown as the colour clashes against his skin.

There is a feast but Changmin retires to their bedchamber early, exhausted and overwrought. It’s been decorated to commemorate their union but he’s in no mood to appreciate it. He removes all his jewelry, wipes his eyes clean of kohl and lies down, gazing up at the ceiling with a sigh.

The bed curtains part and Yunho stands there, resplendent in wedding finery. He takes a seat on the bed and Changmin turns his head to look at him.

“Were you tired?” he asks.

“Yes,” Changmin says. 

Yunho’s gaze runs over him. There’s a feline slant to his dark eyes, his face small and features delicate. His arms are thick and muscled, his chest broad, and a small mole decorates the corner of his rosebud mouth. He has the look of a man anyone would be glad to share a bed with.

“You looked lovely tonight,” Yunho says. He reaches for Changmin’s hand but Changmin pulls away. There’s a pause, then Yunho reaches out again. He touches his ankle lightly, but Changmin draws that back too and curls away from him. 

Yunho stops trying and puts his hands in his lap.

“You do not wish me to touch you?”

“No,” Changmin says bluntly, heart thumping at his own daring. “I agreed to this marriage for the sake of my kingdom and my people. You may have won me by agreeing to my requests but you are not yet welcome in my bed.”

There’s a long silence, then Yunho sighs and stands. 

“I will not force myself on you,” he turns back just before he leaves. “I hope that in time you will look upon me more favorably.”

Changmin curls upon himself after he’s gone, cheek pressed against his pillow, and refuses to let a single tear fall.

\- - -

They make the long journey to the sun palace the next day, capital of Yunho’s vast kingdom. It’s two day’s ride from his home and Changmin aches all over, unused to riding such long hours. Yunho had offered to have him ride in a palanquin but he had refused; he didn’t want the sun lord to get the impression that he was some weak and pampered prince.

The lush greenery and rolling hills of the moon kingdom give way to sand dunes and hot winds. Changmin bears the discomfort of the heat and the pain of saddle sores silently, though nothing can hide his stumble when they finally dismount at the gates of the sun palace. 

Yunho catches him before he can fall and Changmin makes a soft sound of surprise as he lands against his chest.

“The prince is tired,” he hears Yunho say as he catches his breath. “Prepare his rooms at once.”

They opt to walk the rest of the way in and Changmin draws himself out of Yunho’s hold. He lifts his chin and walks with his back straight. The sun palace is huge, twice the size of his mother’s palace, and Changmin bites his lip at the thought of it becoming home.

He is introduced to the court, and Yunho brings two women forward for him to greet.

“This is my sister Jihye,” he says, squeezing the younger one’s hand. She smiles at Changmin, her features startlingly like Yunho’s. “And this is my stepmother,” Yunho squeezes the older woman’s shoulder. Changmin looks at her and meets a cold gaze in return. She does not look glad to see him at all.

Regardless, he gets on his knees and bows to the floor to them to show his respect. There’s a murmur from the watching crowd – clearly this is not how things are done here – but Changmin ignores it and rises again gracefully.

Jihye takes his hand and smiles at him. “I’m so glad to meet you,” she says. “If you need anything please don’t hesitate to ask me.”

“This is your home now,” Yunho’s stepmother says, inclining her head the bare minimum that politeness requires.

“Thank you,” Changmin says, overwhelmed but still polite to a fault.

He is shown to his chambers, an array of rooms designed for his every comfort – and at one side of his day room, a temple to the moon goddess as promised. 

Changmin spends the night in meditation and prays to the goddess to give him strength.

\- - -

He adjusts to his new life slowly. Their customs are different, less elaborate than the intricacies of communication Changmin is used to, but the more straightforward nature of the people is refreshing. The sun palace is made from sandstone and brick, so different to the stone masonry of the moon palace, but it has its own charm. Changmin finds that he dislikes it less than he thought he would.

He is given a group of servants to attend to his needs and immediately takes a liking to one of them, a boy named Kyuhyun whose mother had grown up in the moon kingdom. Kyuhyun keeps him appraised of the goings on of the court and Changmin finds small relief in having a friend in a place where whispers and mistrustful looks still follow him wherever he goes.

Jihye comes to visit him sometimes and Changmin enjoys her company. He had heard that the women of the sun kingdom were oppressed and submissive, but Jihye proves to be none of that. She sits on the king’s council of advisors and always speaks to Changmin intelligently and with respect. She never asks him why he and Yunho don’t share a bed and Changmin appreciates her immensely for that.

He tries to avoid Yunho’s stepmother as much as possible, but meetings are inevitable and each one leaves Changmin with a sour taste in his mouth. The woman takes every opportunity to insult and demean him, but he wills himself to be patient and polite with her. She holds influence with Yunho and making an enemy of her would be a dangerous thing.

One night there’s a loud commotion in the courtyard of the palace, not far from his bedchamber. Changmin goes to the doorway and recognises Yunho and his stepmother’s figure from afar. A tall man with a scraggly beard is arguing with Yunho, his words loud and angry and devoid of any respect.

“Who is that?” Changmin asks Kyuhyun, who has come to spy on the commotion with him.

“The king’s stepbrother, Namsoo. His stepmother’s son from her first marriage,” Kyuhyun’s mouth twists with distaste. “A horrible man. Avoid him if you can.”

“You have never shown me respect,” Namsoo rails, drawing their attention back to the argument. “You were to make me a minister of the high council – ” 

“I did not make you a minister because your actions have been abhorrent,” Yunho cuts him off. “When we conquered the city of Los my orders were to take no slaves and to spare the women and children. You sold the men into slavery and raped the women. You have done those things which I detest most, and you have brought shame on the sun kingdom.”

“What would you know of Los?” Namsoo sneers. “You don’t know what happened there. You were off marrying your crazy moon fucker – they say he can do black magic you know – ”

“Enough!” Yunho thunders. He sounds truly incensed now. “Changmin is the high prince of the realm and my consort and you will speak of him with more respect or I will ensure you do not speak at all.”

Namsoo spits at his feet and storms away, and his mother goes after him. Yunho sighs and rubs at his temple.

Quietly, Changmin retreats back into his chambers.

\- - -

Yunho sits in a council meeting and listens to his advisors. It’s a beautiful day and they’re in the outer pavilion, kneeling on soft cushions as servants wave palm fronds to cool them.

Yunho finds his attention wandering until his husband’s name brings him back to the present. He blinks and sits up.

“What matter?” he says.

The high priest of the sun temple steps forward. “My lord, some of us have reservations about the existence of a moon temple in the palace. It could cause unnatural influences to permeate the court – ”

“The temple was Prince Changmin’s boon from me upon our wedding,” Yunho says. “With all due respect, it cannot be removed.”

His advisors look displeased. Yunho sighs.

“Changmin has not tried to convert others to his ways, simply asked that he be allowed to worship as he pleases. If we cannot respect the wishes of our consort how can we be expected to show respect to those we conquer? I will not have it said that the sun lord is so narrow-minded that – ” Yunho cuts himself off and looks around. After a second so do his advisors.

Someone is singing, singing in a sweet, clear voice that carries out to the pavilion and fills Yunho with wonder. He gets up and follows the voice to his husband’s chambers, then parts the curtains and steps inside.

Changmin is standing in his temple of the moon goddess, eyes closed and hands clasped, and singing in a language Yunho doesn’t understand. His voice fills the room, sweet and lilting like a bird, and Yunho goes to stand beside him and gazes at him quietly. 

Changmin’s song finishes and he opens his eyes. He starts when he sees Yunho, brown eyes going wide. Yunho smiles.

“I did not mean to startle you,” he says. 

Changmin hesitates, then reaches for a tray set nearby. Sweets are arranged carefully on it, and he chooses one and lifts it to Yunho’s mouth.

“Please,” he says. 

Yunho opens his mouth and allows Changmin to feed him half, then watches him eat the other half himself. Changmin sinks gracefully to his knees and bows down to the floor before him, and Yunho understands that this is something he’s longed to do since they were wed, one of those little customs that are lost on him. 

He puts both hands on Changmin’s shoulders and lifts him up and smiles at him.

“You sing beautifully,” Yunho says.

A soft blush colours Changmin’s cheeks and his full lips part.

“Thank you,” he says, and a warm, happy feeling blooms to life in Yunho’s stomach. 

Every morning after that he visits Changmin during his morning prayers and shares a sweet with him. It seems to please Changmin that Yunho is making an effort to get to know him and it pleases Yunho to spend time with him, so they seek each other out when they can. 

One morning while strolling through the gardens they stumble across an injured fawn, shivering and bleating plaintively under a bush. Changmin wraps the animal in his outer robe and takes it back to his chambers, and Yunho watches him care for it until its leg heals. 

“A deer is the official sigil of my people,” Changmin tells him. “They are highly prized, noble creatures. It is forbidden to hunt them in our lands.”

“Deer meat is considered a delicacy in much of our cuisine,” Yunho admits, and notes the flash of pain that crosses Changmin’s face. The next day he asks the royal cook not to add any deer meat to his and Changmin’s meals henceforth. 

Changmin’s success with the fawn endears him to some of the court and people start bringing him other animals to heal. He does it happily and cares for them with admirable patience, and Yunho observes that where his husband had at first seemed cold and brusque he was in fact shy and sweet. He offers to build Changmin a menagerie but he refuses, saying that he much prefers free animals to caged ones.

Yunho finds his mind wandering during council meetings, preoccupied with thoughts of his husband, the way his hair curls behind his ear, the way his whole body trembles when he laughs. 

Others note his distraction and Changmin’s growing sway over the king’s attention too; his stepmother watches closely, and waits, and plots.

\- - -

A servant scrambles up the steps of the prince’s private courtyard and kneels in deference. Changmin had been reclining in the shade of a palm tree enjoying the afternoon heat, but he sits up and beckons the servant forward.

The man presents a box to him and, curious, Changmin lifts the lid to see what’s inside. 

Golden jewelry inlaid with emerald gemstones are nestled on the velvet lining of the box. There is a necklace, a gold leaf circlet and an assortment of bangles. 

“A gift from my lord the sun king,” the servant says. “He requests that you wear it at the feast tonight.”

“A feast?” Changmin says. “For what?”

“It is the night of the full moon and the sun lord has declared a feast in your honor my prince,” the servant says. A murmur of awe and ill-concealed jealousy rises from Changmin’s maidservants. One of them takes the box of jewelry from the man and he bows himself out.

“It’s beautiful,” Changmin murmurs. “But why?”

“Isn’t it obvious,” Kyuhyun looks amused. “He’s wooing you.”

Changmin blinks up at him, then back down at the jewels. His cheeks feel warm and he can hear his maids giggling behind their hands. It’s a sweet gesture and a small smile touches the corner of his mouth.

“Well then. It would be crass to leave such a gesture unreturned,” he says, rising to his feet.

Kyuhyun grins. “What did you have in mind?”

Changmin beckons his servants to follow him and they make their way down to the palace kitchen. Preparations are in full swing, the cook and his assistants running back and forth over massive boiling pots. It takes a moment for anyone to notice Changmin and when they do they freeze in their tracks. 

“My prince!” the cook bows to the ground. “What are you doing here?”

“I hear a feast is being prepared in my honor tonight,” Changmin smiles at him. 

“Yes – is my food not to your liking?” the cook looks alarmed. Changmin lifts a hand to placate him.

“Your food is impeccable. But I would like to do the cooking myself for this feast.”

The man’s jaw drops open. No doubt a member of the royal family has never made such an outrageous request.

“B-but – you – ” he stutters.

Changmin doesn’t give him time to protest. He rolls his sleeves up and directs his servants to take over stirring pots and chopping vegetables. The head cook hovers nearby looking worried.

“My lord, this is most irregular – ”

“You work very hard. Please take tonight off to rest,” Changmin turns the full force of his smile on the man, eyes going mismatched, and the cook slowly nods with a dazed look on his face.

Changmin washes his hands and picks up a knife, glad that his queen mother had ensured he learnt even the most rudimentary of skills, and gets to work.

\- - -

The full moon rises and the court gathers to celebrate their king’s new consort. They set up the festivities in the main palace courtyard, large enough to host a small army but now populated by hundreds of nobility, servants and guests. Huge flaming torches light the area and multicoloured lanterns are strung along the balconies.

Changmin holds himself still as his maids adjust his jewelry and outfit. He’s wearing a dark fitted vest and pants, over which a sleeveless golden robe made of sheer organza flutters around him when he walks. The gifts Yunho had sent him glitter on his wrists and throat, the elegant golden and emerald circlet nestled in his hair.

They had toiled away in the kitchen for hours, but it would all be worth it in the end. 

His maids deem him ready and Changmin makes his way down to the royal pavilion, set slightly above the courtyard with a prime view of the festivities. He nods at the head cook, lingering nearby, and the man nods back before beckoning the servers forward. They are carrying trays laden with the food Changmin had prepared, and they follow him as he ascends the stairs and approaches the throne where the sun lord is seated.

Yunho’s face lights up when he sees him and Changmin flushes at the naked admiration on his face. He glances at the cook and the man steps forward.

“My lord, it is with great pride that I present to you tonight’s feast, prepared especially for you by the high prince of the realm himself,” he says. His voice carries and other people look around, crowding closer.

Yunho’s lips part in surprise and he looks at Changmin, and Changmin gives him a small smile. Delight fills Yunho’s face and he leans forward in his chair.

“This makes me happier than I can say. Please, bring the food forward,” he says.

The servers start to set the plates down but a voice rings out across the courtyard and stops them.

“Wait,” Yunho’s stepmother steps through the crowd. Changmin tenses. “As lovely a gesture as this is, is it not law that any food the king consumes must first be tasted by the cook in case of poisons? Since the moon prince has prepared this food himself let him first taste it in good faith.”

Silence falls. Anger and humiliation floods Changmin. It’s an insult and everyone can see it; to suggest that he might try to poison the king is an affront to his honour.

Yunho looks conflicted, torn between defending his husband and following the rules.

“I do not think we have anything to be worried about if the meal has been prepared by the prince,” he says.

“Nonetheless,” his stepmother says. “It is the law.”

Yunho sighs. “Yes,” he admits. “It is the law.”

Changmin swallows and kneels at the table. The servants bring him a plate and he slowly and methodically tastes each dish. He keeps his eyes fixed on Yunho and his hand steady, not betraying any weakness.

Yunho looks apologetic at first, then proud as Changmin bears the humiliation calmly. Changmin finishes eating, puts his utensils aside, and folds his hands in his lap.

“It is done my lord,” the head cook says, sounding nervous.

Yunho smiles and the tension melts from the crowd.

“Wonderful. Let us eat then.”

The servants start to clear Changmin’s plate away as he rises but Yunho stops them.

“Wait,” he says. “I wish to eat from the plate Prince Changmin used.”

Then he rises and takes Changmin’s hand and leads him to the seat beside him. Out of the corner of his eye Changmin sees Yunho’s stepmother flounce away with a snarl and can’t contain a triumphant smile. 

“Will you share your meal with me?” Yunho asks him quietly once they’re seated and the servants are placing steaming bowls of food before them.

Changmin ducks his head shyly. “Of course,” he says.

They eat from the same plate, shoulders brushing and chopsticks tangling, nudging the tastier morsels to each other’s side. Yunho pops a sautéed mushroom in his mouth and makes an appreciative sound.

“This is exquisite,” he says. “Where did you learn to cook?”

“My mother taught me. And also – the head cook helped,” Changmin admits.

Yunho laughs. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” he says, and Changmin giggles when he winks at him.

Music starts playing, the heavy beat of a drum accompanied by flute and sitar. The plates are cleared away and Yunho stands up.

“Dance with me,” he says.

“Oh no I don’t – ” Changmin starts, but Yunho has already pulled him to his feet and onto the dance floor to loud cheers.

Other couples line up around them and a new song starts, light and rhythmic, and Changmin sighs and follows the steps like he’s been taught. Yunho spins gracefully towards him and away, a smile lighting his face like sunshine.

“I thought you couldn’t dance,” he teases when the next step brings them closer together.

“I said I didn’t, not that I couldn’t,” Changmin corrects him. Yunho takes his hand and spins him – outwards, then towards himself, and his arm lowers slowly around Changmin’s chest as he comes to a stop against Yunho.

“Um,” Changmin says. The beats slows and Yunho turns him so they’re facing each other. He puts a hand on Changmin’s waist and holds him firmly, bodies brushing just slightly, and Changmin’s eyes widen.

“Is it appropriate to dance so closely?” he asks.

“It is here,” Yunho smiles and leads him into a slower dance. The steps are less familiar to Changmin this time but he follows along as best he can. Their eyes meet, and Changmin forgets there are others around them, forgets everything but the gentle heat of Yunho’s gaze. The firelight softens the curves of his face, makes him less intimidating, and Changmin blinks as a hot flutter settles in his chest.

The dance ends and Yunho kisses the back of his hand and doesn’t protest when Changmin slips away early to his chambers, heart thumping and stomach tangled up in happy little knots.


	2. The Sun Lord

Months pass, and summer wilts into fall. 

Changmin emerges from his room one morning, humming distractedly under his breath, and stops on the threshold.

Yunho is standing a few feet away in the courtyard. He’s facing away from him, sword in hand, and naked from the waist up. His sword whirls in a series of complex thrusts and parries as he practices, the muscles of his back bunching and unbunching. 

Changmin’s mouth goes dry. His eyes run over Yunho’s tanned skin and the muscles of his arms. His chest is soft and generous but he’s incredibly fit, and clearly a talented swordsman. Sweat mats Yunho’s golden hair and runs from his armpits down the side of his torso and Changmin swallows, unconsciously licking his lips.

Yunho whirls and meets his eye, and Changmin makes a sound at having been caught staring. He drops the curtain in his doorway and lets it obscure him from view, but even then he can see Yunho’s smirk before he turns away.

Later that day Yunho rides out to settle a dispute in a neighboring town. Changmin watches him go from a watchtower and chews his lower lip, fingers playing with the golden bracelets around his wrists.

When he returns to his chambers he finds the king’s stepbrother, Namsoo, emerging from within and tucking something into his sleeve at the same time. Changmin frowns, but Namsoo just smirks and smooths his clothes as he spots him.

“And how are you today our pretty little moon prince?” he says condescendingly. Changmin’s mouth tightens and he lifts his chin.

“Better before I saw you,” he says. Namsoo chuckles and gets closer to him, purposely invading his personal space.

“Fierce – no wonder my brother likes you. Though not enough to bed you it seems. If practice is what you lack I’d be happy to provide my services,” Namsoo bares his teeth in a grin. Then he lifts his hand and very slowly and deliberately runs a finger down the side of Changmin’s face.

Changmin grabs his wrist as he pulls away, eyes blazing with anger.

“Touch me again and I’ll have your hands cut off and fed to the dogs,” he hisses.

Far from appearing bothered by the threat Namsoo shakes himself out of his grip with a laugh and leaves. Changmin watches him go with narrowed eyes, dread settling in the pit of his stomach.

\- - -

Namsoo throws a scroll down on his mother’s writing table with a triumphant smirk.

“Look what I found in the prince’s chambers,” he says. 

His mother raises an eyebrow and reads the scroll – it is the letter Changmin wrote to his sister the night he found out he was to marry Yunho. She smiles.

“Excellent work my son,” she rolls it up again. “It would be a pity for the prince’s sister not to receive his message. Make a copy to show the king and have the original sent to its intended recipient.”

Namsoo smirks and calls for a servant, and doesn’t notice the shadow of Kyuhyun fleeing from under their window.

They bide their time and wait for the messenger to return and confirm that Sooyeon is on her way to rescue her brother. Then they take the letter to Yunho and show it to him in the privacy of his chambers.

“See now how my counsel to be wary of the moon prince comes true,” his stepmother says triumphantly. Yunho frowns as he reads the letter. “He was betrothed to another before you, a lord Siwon. Now he sends for his help in an attempt to betray you. It is his handwriting, and his seal on this letter.”

Pain flashes across Yunho’s face. “How can this be?” he says.

Namsoo shakes his head. “I should’ve known his nature when he cornered me that day you were away. I shudder to repeat the offer he made me. . .it’s lucky my honour would not allow it. . .”

Yunho stares at him with wide eyes. Betrayal stabs at him. He had trusted Changmin, had been kind and patient with him –

“I cannot believe what you are saying,” Yunho shakes his head. “Changmin is not like that – he wouldn’t – ”

“Then go and see who he is meeting at this moment,” his stepmother says. “Go and see with your own eyes the evidence of his betrayal.”

Yunho sweeps out of the room, and Namsoo leads him to a watchtower above the palace gates.

\- - -

Changmin draws a hood over his head and sneaks out of the palace. The moon lights his way, and he gasps as a rider comes into view over the crest of a hill.

“Sooyeon!” he says. She’s wearing a full-length cloak that hides her hair and face but he knows instantly it’s her. He runs to her as she dismounts and they embrace. “I got your message,” Changmin says. “Why did you ask me to meet you like this?”

“I’ve been so worried for you!” she says. “You sounded so distressed in your letter – is it really that awful here?”

“I – what?” Changmin stares at her. “I didn’t send you any letter.”

“Is this not your seal?” Sooyeon extracts the scroll and shows it to him. Changmin gapes.

“Yes but – ” he shakes his head. “Sooyeon you can’t be here, your troops have been blamed for the skirmishes on the border and if you’re seen you’ll be arrested.”

“Seize him!” a voice booms from the palace gates. Lights flood the area and Changmin whirls around. 

Sooyeon drops his hands and mounts her horse at a run. She rears it around and stares at him.

“Changmin,” she gasps. “Did you betray me?”

“No!” Changmin shakes his head frantically. Out of the corner of his eye he sees guards heading their way. “Go!” he cries. 

Sooyeon flees and the guards descend on Changmin, surrounding him with their spears drawn. They bring him to the king’s audience chamber, where Yunho stands looking angry and pained. Namsoo and his stepmother flank him.

“You have betrayed me,” he says. 

Changmin’s mind whirls. “I didn’t – ” he starts. 

Yunho throws a scroll at his feet – a copy of the letter he wrote to Sooyeon. “Did you not write this?”

Changmin swallows. “I did, but I never – ”

“Silence!” Yunho thunders. “I did not think it possible for you to betray me thus, to meet another behind my back when I have showed you nothing but the utmost respect.” His anger seems to fill the room, and Changmin flinches away from the accusation and pain in his eyes.

“Please,” he tries. “Just let me explain – ”

“I’ve heard enough,” Yunho turns his back on him. “Escort the prince back to the moon palace,” he instructs his guards. “He’s done here.”

Changmin gapes as he’s pulled away, too stunned to protest or fully register what just happened.

\- - -

A few days later Jihye returns from negotiations in the north and storms into Yunho’s room. She dismisses his servants with a curt word and scowls at him.

“Why did you send Changmin away?” she demands.

Yunho sighs and sits on his bed. He’s slept badly for days, plagued with the pain of betrayal and a nagging feeling that he’s done something horribly wrong. 

“He was caught conspiring against the throne,” he says dully. “Mother and Namsoo uncovered the plot.”

Jihye gives a disbelieving laugh. “And you believed those vipers?”

She goes to the door and calls for a servant, and Kyuhyun stumbles into the room. With Jihye’s prompting he spills everything he’d overheard of Namsoo and his mother’s plot, how Changmin had written the letter before they were married and it was his sister at the gate that night. Yunho listens with wide eyes, and then he calls for his stepmother and asks Kyuhyun to repeat his information.

“Is this true?” Yunho asks, searching her face. 

The woman lifts her chin and refuses to say anything.

“Answer me mother!” Yunho says. “Is it true? Did you conspire to turn me against Changmin? Why would you do such a thing?”

“I’ll tell you why,” Jihye says, throwing her stepmother a dirty look. “She fears Changmin’s influence over you and that it will weaken her own power. She seeks to put Namsoo on the throne and depose you, and what better way than to make your marriage look weak?”

Yunho searches his stepmother’s face and sees the truth of Jihye’s words in her eyes. It hurts more than he can say – she’s been like a mother to him since his own died when he was young. 

He swallows. “Where is Namsoo?”

“He has fled the capital my lord,” the captain of his guard steps forward. “We searched for him everywhere. He appears to have taken a company of his guards with him.”

Yunho curses and his stepmother’s eyes flash with triumph. Yunho look at her with disappointment.

“You are family so I will not have you executed for treason, but from this day forth I do not wish to see your face before me. Lock her up,” he tells his guards.

“Namsoo will prevail,” his stepmother says before she’s taken away. “He will take the throne and you will rue the day you deserted your people for that moon kingdom trash!”

“Take her away,” Yunho says, disgusted. He clenches his fists and feels Jihye’s hand on his shoulder.

“I never trusted them,” she says softly. Yunho covers her hand with his.

“I fear I have been gullible and let my love of family blind me,” he sighs. “I ruined everything with Changmin. . .”

“It’s not too late,” Jihye says. She squeezes his hand and gives him a small smile. “Bring him home brother.”

\- - -

The call goes up before the company comes into view – the sun lord has come to fetch his husband.

In an attempt to save face Changmin told his family he had come to visit them of his own free will. Nobody knew that Yunho had banished him, and he burns with anger as he sees him ride into the courtyard of the moon palace with an impressive host of guards in tow. Changmin turns away from the window, arms crossed over his chest.

“How romantic,” his maids giggle. “The sun lord came himself.”

“I will not go with him,” Changmin grits out.

They blink at him in confusion but he sweeps away before they can ask questions. 

The moon queen meets Yunho in the entrance hall of her palace and smiles in greeting.

“Welcome,” she says, and Yunho ducks his head politely and kisses her hand. His eyes scan the room, searching for Changmin, but every person in the greeting party is veiled for some reason. The queen sees him looking and her smile widens. “Looking for someone in particular?” she asks cheekily. 

Yunho laughs. “You’ve caught me. Where is Changmin?”

“It is tradition that when a spouse visits the home of a moon prince for the first time they must search him out amidst a host of veiled courtiers,” the queen says. “If you choose correctly you can spend the night in his room. If not you spend the night under the stars.”

Giggles rise from the assembled people. Yunho smiles – he can play this game.

He strolls through the crowd slowly, scanning the room for Changmin. Most people are too short to be him, others too portly. Nobody quite has Changmin’s effortless grace, the way he holds himself with quiet dignity. 

Yunho comes to a stop before a likely-looking candidate. He raises his hands to their veil – then pauses and turns to the figure beside them. 

He lifts the veil and meets Changmin’s eyes, those soft brown eyes that are looking at him with anger and pain and something else, something that makes Yunho’s heart jump in his throat. He removes the veil entirely from Changmin’s face and lets it fall to the floor.

A cheer goes up from the crowd but Yunho only hears Changmin’s soft, trembling breaths and the rush of blood to his ears.

\- - -

“Why are you here?” Changmin demands without bothering with greetings.

Yunho steps into his room and lets the door shut quietly behind him. The prince’s chambers are exquisitely decorated in silks of blue and silver, his bed large enough to fit three people. Candles flicker in floor-length candelabras, their holders carved from moonstone and iron that shimmers in the light. 

“I have come to fetch you,” Yunho says.

Changmin’s eyes flash with anger. “Is that all?” 

“I’m sorry,” Yunho says, voice soft. “I misjudged you. Please forgive me.”

Their eyes meet and some of the fight drains from Changmin. He looks away and sighs.

“How did you discover the truth?”

“Your servant Kyuhyun,” Yunho says, moving towards him. “He told my sister that my stepmother had lied to me. The rest was simple enough to uncover after that.”

“You could have saved yourself the time and effort if you had simply listened to me the night you sent me away,” Changmin says.

Yunho steps ever closer and gathers both of Changmin’s hands in his. His palms are soft, his fingers small and delicate in Yunho’s large hands.

“Forgive me,” he says, voice low.

Changmin wavers. Yunho can see him swallow and his eyes flicker, and for a moment he thinks he’s won; but Changmin’s pride is not to be underestimated. His eyes flash with warning and he lifts his chin in defiance.

“Did you think it would be that easy?” he says. “You sent me away like a dog that has disobeyed its owner. You questioned my honour.” He pulls his hands out of Yunho’s grasp and steps away. “You can win my forgiveness but you have not yet earned the right to touch me.”

Yunho’s gaze softens. He watches Changmin retreat to the other side of the room, putting the bed between them.

“And how can I be expected to lie beside you all night and not touch?” he asks.

“Like this.” Changmin pulls a cord and a silk curtain swings down between them, neatly partitioning the bed in two. 

Yunho finds a helpless smile tugging at his lips, charmed despite himself by his moody husband.

“This is not fair. Now I cannot even see you,” he says.

“Good, then you should suffer no temptation to touch,” Changmin says coolly.

In lieu of replying Yunho removes his shoes and jacket and gets comfortable on his half of the bed. He can see Changmin moving around on the other side of the curtain, removing his jewelry and shrugging out of his robes. Yunho lowers his eyes. 

“I do not need to see you to burn for you,” he says. “I can hear your every breath, and smell your oils and perfumes. That alone is enough.” 

He hears Changmin’s sharp intake of breath. The bed dips as Changmin climbs onto it.

“Was I too forward?” Yunho asks playfully.

There is a pause, then the curtain is wrenched aside and Changmin glares at him. 

“You are very charming my lord. You know how to conquer nations and rule kingdoms but you do not know how to win the hearts of your people, just as you do not know how to win mine,” he says.

“What would you have me do?” Yunho asks, exasperated.

“Have you ever taken a moment to speak to the common man, to hear what small worries weigh on his mind, to understand his dreams and desires? Have you ever even ventured outside the walls of the moon palace and spoken to your subjects, the people who are only yours because you married me and not through any choice of their own?” Changmin breathes hard, an angry flush high on his cheeks. “You do not know the hearts of men and so you know nothing Jung Yunho.”

Yunho is too stunned to articulate anything intelligent in response, so he says: “I didn’t think it possible but you are even more beautiful when you are angry.”

The flush on Changmin’s cheeks deepens and he drops the curtain with a soft growl. He douses the candles on his side of the bed and lies back and appears, for all intents and purposes, to fall into a deep slumber.

Sleep eludes Yunho. He lies on his side and gazes at Changmin’s figure through the curtain, imagining the sweep of his eyelashes against his cheeks and the soft pink of his mouth. 

After a while he sees Changmin open his eyes and blink up at the ceiling.

“Will you not blow out your candles?” he asks, voice soft with sleep.

“If I do that I can no longer see your shadow,” Yunho says.

Changmin snorts, but it’s without heat. “How like the sun to force its light on the moon.”

“What else is the sun to do when the moon is so shy?” 

Changmin is silent after that and they gradually slip into sleep, and the candles at Yunho’s bedside flicker on through the night.

\- - -

Yunho is alone when he wakes. He stirs and runs a hand through his hair, yawning hugely. It’s the best sleep he’s had in days.

He rolls upright and goes in search of Changmin, following the sound of swords clashing into an inner courtyard. 

Changmin is armed and sparring with a guard. He is wearing a blindfold, sword moving with uncommon speed and skill as he ducks and parries his opponent’s thrusts. Yunho watches with a small smile, then descends the stairs and accepts the sword from Changmin’s opponent with a finger to his lips.

Swiftly, Yunho reaches over and tugs the blindfold off Changmin’s eyes just as he whirls around. The clash of their swords rings out across the courtyard and Changmin’s face registers surprise before he throws Yunho off and backs away, sword raised warily.

“Very impressive,” Yunho says. “Will you duel with me for a wager?”

Changmin raises an eyebrow. “Name your price.”

They circle each other slowly, swords at the ready, and the thrill of sparring with a worthy opponent speeds up Yunho’s heartbeat.

“If you win you may make any request of me,” he says. 

Changmin considers it. “And if I lose?”

Yunho’s smile broadens. “Then you come home with me.”

Changmin narrows his eyes and levels his sword at Yunho. “I won’t lose.”

He strikes and Yunho dodges, whirling out of the way before striking back. Their swords clash loudly, neither of them holding back. Yunho ducks behind a pillar and spins to block another thrust, his muscles straining. 

“You’re very good,” he says. “Who taught you?”

“My sister,” Changmin pants. “She’s the most gifted warrior in our land.”

“She must be an excellent teacher too.”

They circle each other for a moment and Changmin pushes his hair off his forehead in a gesture that makes butterflies explode in Yunho’s stomach. They exchange blows briefly, then draw away again to breathe.

“If I win you must pardon her,” Changmin says.

Yunho raises an eyebrow. “She killed 30 of my men just on her own.”

A flash of pride lights Changmin’s face before he schools his expression. “Still.”

They strike at each other again, dodging and exchanging blows. Changmin is fast but Yunho is stronger, and he backs Changmin into a pillar, breathing out against his face as their swords cross.

Time slows, and for the first time Yunho feels the length of his husband’s body pressed intimately against his. Changmin is breathing hard, and his eyes lower as Yunho presses closer against him. Yunho can see the soft heat dusting his cheeks and the sweat curling the hair at Changmin’s temple. Changmin makes a soft sound, an almost-whimper that makes heat pool in Yunho’s stomach, and then he’s pushing him off. He moves fast, sword slicing through the air, and opens a shallow cut on Yunho’s upper arm.

Yunho gasps in surprise and Changmin smirks.

“I should remind you that I am the sun lord and your husband,” Yunho says, affronted.

“You shouldn’t lower your guard,” Changmin grins. He backs Yunho towards the edge of the courtyard and Yunho falls against the cushions stacked there. He fights one-handed as Changmin bears down on him, breathing hard, until – 

“Prince Changmin?” a voice calls from the doorway. Changmin glances around, a split second reaction, and Yunho’s blade snakes towards the hilt of his sword and wrenches it out of his hand. Changmin’s sword goes flying to the side and lands on the tiles with a clatter.

Yunho grins. 

“You lose,” he says.

“That’s not fair!” Changmin gasps. “I was distracted.”

Yunho shrugs. “In a real battle distractions happen.”

A servant appears around a curtain, eyes lowered timidly.

“The queen is requesting your presence in her chambers,” the servant says. 

“Tell her I’ll be there presently,” Changmin says impatiently. He straightens with an annoyed sound as the servant scurries away.

Yunho bounces to his feet and beams at him. “This means you’re coming home with me,” he says cheerfully.

“I’ll do no such thing,” Changmin growls.

“Are you going back on our bargain? That’s unbecoming of the high prince of the realm.”

“I can do as I please,” Changmin snaps at him. 

“Fine, then I won’t ask you again.” Yunho tosses his sword aside and takes Changmin’s chin in hand, and Changmin looks back at him with fire in his eyes. 

“You’ll come home with me on your own,” Yunho says, soft and sure. “Because I’m going to win your heart.”

\- - -

Yunho adjusts his cowl and slips out of a side gate of the palace, keeping his head low. He’s wearing simple working clothes, no gold armbands or marks of station to be seen. 

“My lord you mustn’t,” his retainer, a small and ferrety-looking man named Ryeowook, groans from behind him. 

“Relax,” Yunho grins as they blend in easily with the crowd. “What’s the point of being king of everything if I can’t have a little fun?”

“My lord please, it isn’t safe for you to wander around the town like this,” Ryeowook frets. Yunho shushes him with a wave of his hand.

“Don’t call me that out here,” he says.

“What else am I to call you?” Ryeowook’s voice climbs higher.

“Just Yunho is fine.”

Ryeowook looks like he might faint at the mere thought.

They stroll down to the marketplace. It’s bustling with merchants and common folk, everyone busily going about their business and paying no attention to them. A few guards patrol the area, keeping an eye out for trouble. 

Changmin had said he didn’t understand the hearts of his people and Yunho intends to rectify that.

He examines the wares at a spice merchant’s stall. The man eyes him distrustfully, as though he’s worried he might steal something, and Yunho gives him a weak smile before moving on. A glimmer catches his eye and he walks over to a jewel merchant. The man has three guards flanking his stall, and Yunho nods at him in greeting as he examines the jewels on sale.

An intricate silver bracelet catches his eye and he picks it up. It’s set with tiny moonstones and sapphires, the gems glinting in the sunlight delicate and beautiful. 

It would look stunning around Changmin’s wrist. Yunho pays for the item and thanks the merchant as he wraps it up and passes it to him with a nod.

A group of men are having a loud and heated discussion nearby and, curious, Yunho drifts closer to hear what they’re saying.

“Third time this month,” a man says bitterly. 

“That bastard sun lord sits up in the palace and taxes every cent out of us, I won’t stand for it!” another says. A murmur of agreement ripples through the crowd.

Yunho can’t stay silent. He hears Ryeowook groan softly as he steps forward.

“What ails you my friends? I heard the sun lord was a fair and just ruler,” he says. All eyes turn on him.

One man snorts. “You from out of town?”

“Something like that,” Yunho smiles.

“He can be fair and just all he wants but who gives a flying fuck when our taxes are so high we can barely afford to feed our families,” another man growls. 

“Next thing you know we’ll get taxed every time we take a shit,” someone says. A roar of laughter goes up from the crowd.

“Surely not that much has changed since the sun lord took power,” Yunho objects.

“Oh yeah? Then what about the pilgrim tax?” someone sneers.

Yunho frowns. “Pilgrim tax?” 

The man laughs and clasps his shoulder, clearly having decided he’s an idiot. “You really are from out of town my friend. The pilgrim tax is levied every time we visit a moon temple to worship the goddess. It didn’t exist until the sun lord took power by marrying our prince.”

Yunho looks at Ryeowook. “Is this true?” he asks quietly.

Ryeowook looks uncomfortable. “Yes my lord.”

“Why did I not know of this?” Yunho whispers. Ryeowook shrugs helplessly.

“The moon prince deserved better,” someone mutters mutinously.

“A sweeter lord there never existed,” a woman says, and a murmur of agreement ripples through the crowd.

“I heard when there was plague five years ago he brought medicine to the poor himself and worked in the hospitals until they forced him to go back to the palace,” someone else says. Yunho smiles – that sounds like his Changmin.

The crowd disperses, gossiping amongst themselves. Yunho beckons Ryeowook and they sneak back into the palace. Changmin had been right – he did not know the people he ruled.

\- - -

On the day of the summer solstice the sun lord abolishes the pilgrim tax with a promise to allow religious freedom throughout his lands from that day forth. They hold a feast to commemorate the day, and open the palace gates to allow the common folk to share in the bounty. 

His priests aren’t happy but Yunho doesn’t care, because Changmin had smiled at him so sweetly when the announcement was made it was sure to keep him warm for many nights to come.

He’s reading in his room later that night when the door opens and Changmin slips inside. He’s holding a floor-length cloak close around his body, eyes bright and lips soft.

Yunho puts his book aside and sits up and for a while they just gaze at each other. 

“How did I do?” Yunho asks.

Changmin smiles at him, sweet and sure. 

“Truly you are a man of your word,” he says. 

He draws the cloak apart and lets it fall to the floor, and beneath it he is naked.

Yunho stops breathing. He eyes travel slowly over long legs and a lean torso, tracing the hourglass shape of Changmin’s figure. He is toned and slim, with wide hips and a tiny waist and a pretty, slender cock. There’s a blush high on Changmin’s cheeks now, as though he’s embarrassed by his own daring, and Yunho thinks if he doesn’t touch him soon he’ll die.

He beckons him closer and Changmin climbs over him, thighs on either side of Yunho’s hips. They breathe each other in, the candlelight flickering shadows and fire across their skin. Yunho runs a hand up Changmin’s soft thigh and thumbs the curve of his hip, heady at finally being able to touch, and Changmin’s eyes drop to his lips.

There’s a moment, a second of delight, and then they come together in a kiss and Yunho feels it tremble through his whole body. Changmin’s lips yield soft and sweet under his, the scent and taste of him intoxicating. He cups Changmin’s face and kisses him again and again, murmuring endearments that mean nothing and everything, and Changmin moans softly and kisses back harder. He tugs at Yunho’s shirt, pulling it upwards, and they part briefly so Yunho can fling it off before they’re kissing again, open-mouthed and eager.

He can’t believe how sweet it is to simply kiss Changmin, how much it lights a fire under his skin. Yunho wriggles out of his pants and tosses them somewhere over the side of the bed and then their hands are all over each other, caressing and tugging and stroking. Yunho wraps a hand around Changmin’s cock and strokes him lightly, and Changmin pants against his mouth. His brows furrow in pleasure, and when Yunho parts his legs and feels Changmin thrust against his thigh he arches up with a sigh.

“Yes,” he breathes. “Like this.”

Changmin’s eyes open wide. “Truly?” he murmurs.

“Take me my prince,” Yunho smiles up at him and tucks a strand of hair behind Changmin’s ear. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Changmin groans and kisses him again, more frantically this time. He reaches for the massage oil at Yunho’s bedside and dips his fingers in it, and Yunho takes the opportunity to press kisses along Changmin’s chest and shoulder. Changmin shudders, almost upsetting the oil bottle, and Yunho laughs. They roll together, legs tangled and kisses hungry, and Yunho delights in every sweet little sound that falls from Changmin’s lips, every moan and soft laugh as they clumsily lie together for the first time.

Changmin jabs slicked fingers at his entrance, sinking one inside slowly, and Yunho gasps and arches into him. He presses his face into Changmin’s shoulder, then bites down when Changmin pushes in a second finger and stretches him.

Changmin looks at him with wide eyes. “Does it hurt?” he whispers.

“A little,” Yunho smiles at him. “It will be better soon. Come – ” He takes hold of Changmin’s cock and guides him to his entrance, and Changmin hunches over him with a gasp. He lifts one of Yunho’s legs to his shoulder, wraps the other around his waist, and pushes into him with a low groan. 

Yunho gasps and arches up. There’s pain, but it fades into exquisite pleasure as Changmin starts to move. He fills Yunho up again and again, each thrust trembling through them both as they groan and laugh and shatter together.

\- - -

Afterwards Changmin lies on his chest as they catch their breath, his hand softly caressing Yunho’s plush pectorals. Yunho catches his questing fingers before they can reach his nipple and lifts them to his mouth so he can kiss each one. Changmin raises his head and looks at him, and Yunho caresses his cheek with the back of his fingers.

“Do you love me?” he asks, voice low.

Changmin smiles contentedly at him. “Very much. And you?”

“More than I can say,” Yunho breathes. They kiss, soft and brief, and then Yunho looks to the side. “I bought you a present.”

“Oh?” Changmin sits up and Yunho rolls off the bed to fetch the bracelet he bought at the marketplace. Changmin’s lips part when he sees it, his face lighting up.

“Oh,” he breathes. “It’s beautiful.”

He holds his arm out and Yunho slips the bracelet on him. The silver is beautiful against his skin and the gems glint in the candlelight. Changmin touches it, then bites his lip and looks at Yunho.

“Thank you,” he says. 

Yunho takes his hand and draws him back down onto the bed. “My pleasure. In fact I’m of the opinion you should always be adorned in nothing but jewels.” 

Changmin mock gasps as he curls against Yunho’s side. “How scandalous. Would you really allow your whole court to gaze at me in such a state?”

Yunho scowls at the thought, then turns his head and sees that Changmin is laughing quietly at him.

“Why you – ” he rolls over and crushes Changmin under him and muffles his shriek with a kiss.

\- - -

Changmin wakes just before dawn. Yunho is hovering over him, pressing kisses to his throat and shoulder and cheeks. Changmin stirs under him, eyes fluttering.

“Yunho,” he mumbles. 

“Good morning,” Yunho kisses his ear.

“It’s too early,” Changmin frowns, a pout curling his full lips.

“How can I be expected to sleep when you are lying beside me so soft and touchable?” Yunho murmurs into his neck. Changmin gasps when his hand moves lower and strokes the curve of his ass, squeezing one cheek. 

“Oh,” Changmin murmurs. “It appears I’ve unleashed a monster.”

Yunho leaves one last kiss on his lips and draws back with a grin. He’s glorious even in the dim morning light, shoulders broad and golden hair a tangled mess. Changmin smiles up at him drowsily.

“Did you sleep at all?” he asks.

“It was a struggle,” Yunho sighs. “Every time you shifted or made a sound I would lay awake for half an hour listening to you breathe and trying to hold myself back from violating you in your sleep.”

Changmin laughs and stretches out, aware of Yunho’s eyes following the movement.

“I heard a tale,” Yunho says. “That the princes of the moon were blessed with rare beauty, that they could ensnare a man with one look. I do not think I believed it until now.”

Changmin looks up at him, his eyes filled with unintentional heat. Yunho moves to hover over him, hands on either side of his head and face close.

“I also heard,” he murmurs. “That the moon princes are blessed with powers other men are not. . .powers of conception. . .”

Changmin bites his lip and draws a hand up Yunho’s side and to his back, slowly stroking the muscles there. His wide brown eyes meet Yunho’s dark and feline gaze. 

“It is not a mere tale,” he says. “When Queen Sylke first conquered these lands a thousand years ago the goddess granted her two gifts: long life and a powerful bloodline, as long as her children birthed their own children. But the queen only had sons, so the goddess gave the sons of the moon the power to conceive life just as the daughters of the moon could. . .”

Yunho is gazing at him with a look in his eyes that Changmin can’t interpret. He looks away, suddenly shy. 

“Will you bear me children my prince?” Yunho breathes in his ear. Changmin shudders; somehow the thought fills him with delight. 

Yunho draws back and, eyes hooded, Changmin slowly spreads his legs for him.

“Fill me with your seed and find out my lord,” he says. 

The sun peaks its first rays over the horizon as Yunho falls on him and kisses him. Their hands tangle in each other’s hair, lips open and wet. Changmin wraps his legs around Yunho’s torso and arches up, their mouths hot and sliding together.

Yunho dips his fingers in oil and brings them to his entrance, and Changmin gasps as he pushes two in at the same time. He groans softly, then cries out when Yunho brushes a spot that makes his head spin.

“Please,” he pants. “Oh – _oh_.” 

The sun lights Yunho golden as he sits up and slicks himself, his cock jutting out proud and thick. He hoists Changmin’s leg onto his shoulder and guides himself to his entrance, pushing in with a soft grunt.

Changmin throws his head back and moans loudly. He’s full to the hilt, and as Yunho starts to move he clenches both hands in the sheets and holds on. The slap of their skin fills the room, and every time he pushes in Changmin cries out and clenches around him. 

“Look at me,” Yunho pants, and Changmin opens his eyes and gazes up at him dazedly.

“Yunho,” he whimpers. The scent of their coupling and the power of Yunho’s thrusts makes his head spin. He puts a hand on his cock and strokes, slowly at first, then faster and faster as their rutting becomes more desperate. Yunho bends him in two and kisses him and Changmin moans into his mouth. He shudders, arches up, and comes between them with a sudden cry.

Yunho pauses in his thrusts, panting against his cheek. Changmin clenches around him and digs his fingers in his back.

“Keep going,” he pants. “Please – I want to feel you – ”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Yunho pants, but he starts moving again and Changmin lets his head fall back. He’s oversensitive and he doesn’t care and Yunho fills him up again and again until he comes with a hoarse cry. Changmin gasps as he spills inside him and says a silent prayer to the goddess.

They draw apart slowly and Yunho kisses him and murmurs sweet nonsense into his mouth. It’s fully morning by now, and Changmin curls against his sun and sleeps.

\- - -

They ride out for the sun palace the next day. Changmin doesn’t intend to bear the ride quietly this time – he looks at Yunho with a small pout, and Yunho bites his lip around a grin. 

He hoists Changmin sidesaddle onto his horse and mounts up behind him. Yunho’s arms go around him as he takes the reins and Changmin ducks his head in a shy smile as titters spread through the crowd seeing them off.

Yunho raises an eyebrow.

“Is it not appropriate to show affection in public here?” he says. 

Changmin grins and relaxes against his chest as they start to leave the palace grounds.

“Not really. The nobility is expected to show more decorum.”

“And if I kiss you in public?” Yunho says in his ear. “Would that be inappropriate too?”

“Undoubtedly,” Changmin says in tones that very much suggest he wants to be inappropriate.

They pause at the palace gates and as the guards pull them open Yunho takes hold of Changmin’s chin, tilts his face up, and kisses him hot and sweet under the morning sun.

A gasp goes up from the watching crowd but Changmin puts a hand in Yunho’s hair and kisses back and doesn’t care.


	3. Child of Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains mentions of labour, blood, and some violence

They arrive at the sun palace late in the afternoon the next day. Changmin hesitates as their horses are led away, unsure of whether to head to his own rooms or follow Yunho to his. He doesn’t particularly want to retire to his bedchamber alone but it might be too forward to assume anything.

Yunho makes the decision for him by taking his hand and leading the way to his quarters, and Changmin hides a shy grin. It’s his first time in Yunho’s room and he looks around curiously, taking in the gold-draped bed and the fluttering curtains of the canopy. Yunho looks around at him.

“Is this okay?” he asks. Changmin smiles and takes a seat on the bed.

“Yes,” he says. He watches Yunho remove his outer jacket and toss it haphazardly across a chaise and bites his lip in annoyance. Almost subconsciously, Changmin rises and folds it more neatly before starting to remove his own outer clothing.

Yunho blinks in surprise, then grins and sits to remove his boots.

“It would please me greatly if you moved in to my quarters and shared my bed from now on,” he says.

“Oh,” Changmin tries and fails to fight off a blush. “Yes, of course.”

He finds himself drifting closer, coming to stand between Yunho’s legs, and when he puts one knee on the bed and slowly urges the king to lie back Yunho doesn’t protest. He smiles up at Changmin and tugs him down for a kiss, soft and tender.

“Tired?” Yunho murmurs against his lips.

“Yes,” Changmin breathes. “But I would like to bathe first.”

“Of course.”

Yunho kisses him languidly for a few more minutes before he rolls out from under him and calls for the servants to draw a bath. There’s a room for bathing attached to the royal bedchamber, the pool big enough for multiple people, and Changmin nods in thanks as the servants bow him in once it’s ready. The water steams pleasantly, its colour murky from a mixture of relaxing herbs. He lowers himself in and sighs in relief as it soothes his muscles.

After a minute Yunho appears in the doorway and smiles at him and Changmin smiles back, cheeks flushed and hair curling from the steam.

“Won’t you join me?” he says.

“I didn’t know I was invited,” Yunho says, stepping into the room and letting the door close behind him. Changmin relaxes back against the edge of the bath and peeks his toes out of the water, wriggling them at his husband.

“You’re invited,” he says, and Yunho disrobes with a grin. Changmin watches him enter the bath and stares shamelessly, eyes running over his plush chest and thick thighs and lingering on his beautiful big cock before the water closes over him.

Eyes dark, Yunho traps him against the bath’s edge and lowers his face to Changmin’s neck, kissing and sucking lightly. Changmin closes his eyes and lets his head fall to the side, a low, pleased hum rising to his lips. Sweet, slow arousal curls through him and he wraps a leg around Yunho’s waist under the water and pulls him closer.

“My lord,” Changmin says, voice low and inviting. Yunho kisses his jaw.

“You mustn’t call me that in such a tone of voice or I shall have inappropriate reactions every time someone addresses me so,” he murmurs.

Changmin giggles and arches up against him.

“My lord,” he breathes. “I would like it very much if you fucked me now.”

At first Yunho looks shocked, as though he never expected to hear such vulgar words from Changmin’s lips. Then his face darkens and his hands tighten on Changmin’s waist.

“Turn around,” he says. Changmin turns and Yunho lifts him up onto the steps of the bath. He kneels on the step and slides forward until his forearms rest on the tiles and his head is cradled on them, excited and slightly embarrassed at being exposed thus.

Yunho caresses the back of his thighs, stroking the smooth skin until Changmin shivers. Then he puts both hands on his asscheeks, spreads them apart, and lowers his face to his entrance.

Yunho licks at him, hot and wet and slurping, and Changmin gasps as heat shoots up his spine. He wobbles, almost losing his balance, and Yunho puts an arm around his waist and holds him steady as he licks and licks and reduces Changmin to a whimpering, moaning mess.

“Oh please – oh, Yunho!” Changmin cries out as his husband’s tongue nudges at his hole and pushes inside. Deep, hot arousal rushes through him and he squirms, impaled and gasping, fingers scrabbling uselessly against the tiles. His mouth falls open and he keens, frantically pushing back against Yunho’s questing tongue.

Yunho surfaces after a few minutes and bites one smooth cheek as Changmin trembles under him, face flushed and head spinning. He turns his head and sees Yunho reach for the soaps set at the side of the bath. He slicks himself up with a soft, dirty sound that shoots heat through Changmin, then guides his cock to his entrance and pushes inside slowly.

Changmin gasps and hunches over as Yunho slides in to the hilt. It’s a unique experience, learning to accommodate his husband’s girth. Yunho starts a slow pace and he pushes back, moaning at the wet slap of their skin and the feeling of being stretched open. Yunho shifts slightly, thrusts at a new angle, and Changmin hisses as it brushes a new spot inside him.

“Again,” he moans. “Do that again.” He clenches down and Yunho groans, his pace becoming more erratic.

The water splashes around them wildly, their cries bouncing off the tiles and spilling into the hallway beyond, and the servants stationed outside blush as the obvious sounds of coupling reach them.

 

\- - -

Several weeks later Changmin stirs awake to Yunho pressing a morning kiss to his cheek.

“Rise and shine,” Yunho smiles at him. He often wakes early and leaves to attend council meetings or oversee the construction of something or other. Changmin usually rises not long after him, but that day he struggles to open his eyes and kisses Yunho back clumsily before slipping back into sleep.

The next time he stirs it’s mid-afternoon and Yunho has just entered the room.

“Still in bed!” he exclaims. He takes a seat on the bed as Changmin struggles upright.

“Mm,” he mumbles. Yunho cups his face and strokes his cheeks.

“Are you unwell?” he asks worriedly.

“Just tired,” Changmin yawns. Yunho doesn’t look convinced.

“You feel warm. I must run but I’ll call for the royal head physician to see you.”

He drops a kiss on Changmin’s forehead and sweeps out of the room. A few minutes later several servants and the royal physician enter with bows. The servants are carrying trays of food for him, and Changmin picks at it uninterestedly as the doctor takes his wrist and checks his pulse.

“How are you feeling my prince?” the man asks.

“I ache all over,” Changmin admits. He hadn’t wanted to worry Yunho, but the truth is he doesn’t feel well at all. “I threw up this morning. Please don’t tell the king.”

The doctor smiles and urges Changmin to lie back so he can examine him. The sun kingdom was famed for their medical universities, having made advances in the field that had never been seen before, and the head physician was the best of the best. He takes Changmin’s temperature, then touches his chest carefully. Changmin flinches and the doctor looks up at him.

“Sore?” he asks.

“Yes,” Changmin says. The physician frowns and feels his abdomen, then sits back with a surprised look on his face.

“My prince,” he says. “It appears that you are with child.”

Changmin stares at him and sits up slowly. The doctor looks excited.

“This is a unique case – the first of its kind that I’ve ever seen!” he says.

“Are you sure?” Changmin croaks out.

“All the early signs are there,” the physician says. Changmin stares down at the bed, and after a while the doctor seems to realise he needs a few minutes to process this alone. He and the servants bow themselves out of the room and Changmin nods them off distractedly.

He knew there was a chance this could happen but the reality of it has him frozen in shock. The truth was that a prince of the moon hadn’t birthed a child in ten decades – some people thought the goddess’s gifts had been bred out of the line over time.

Feeling a little light-headed, Changmin stumbles out of bed and calls for his maids. They dress him and ask excited questions, having heard the doctor’s pronouncement, but when he doesn’t reply they eventually quieten.

There’s only one person Changmin wants to discuss this with before the news spreads.

“Where is the king?” he asks.

“In the council chamber my prince,” his maid bobs a curtsey as Changmin sweeps out of the room.

Yunho is deep in discussion with one of his ministers, but he looks around when Changmin enters. The minister bows himself out of the room and Yunho smiles as Changmin approaches him.

“You have roused yourself at last,” he says.

“Yes,” Changmin swallows, suddenly nervous, and twists his fingers together. Yunho sees his agitation and frowns.

“What is it? What did the doctor say?” he cups Changmin’s cheek and strokes it with his thumb, face clouded with worry.

Changmin takes a deep breath.

“He said that I am with child,” he says.

Yunho’s eyes widen. His gaze drops to Changmin’s stomach, then lifts back to his face. Wonder fills his expression.

“Sun gods be praised,” he breathes. “The legend was true.”

Changmin doesn’t know why tears fill his eyes but he’s sobbing before he realises it. Yunho looks alarmed – he cups Changmin’s face with both hands and wipes at his tears.

“Oh no – no my love, why do you weep?”

Changmin shakes his head and allows Yunho to fold him in his arms and sobs into his shoulder.

“I’m so happy,” Yunho whispers in his ear. “Nothing in my life has made me happier than this news, save for the first time I lay with you.”

Changmin laughs wetly and scrubs at his cheeks.

“Me too,” he says, and gives Yunho a sweet, wobbly smile. “Me too.”

Yunho kisses his tears away, then captures his mouth in soft, wet kisses that echo in the small council chamber. Changmin makes a sound and presses against him, his mouth opening to let Yunho’s tongue inside. The heat of arousal rises quickly to his cheeks and he moans when he feels Yunho’s hard length against his thigh, excited by the chance to celebrate the good news.

Yunho draws back panting, mouth wet, and sweeps his arm across the council table in one smooth motion. Papers, charts and writing utensil clatter to the floor. He hoists Changmin onto the table and kisses him, hard and hot, until they’re moaning softly and rutting against each other. Yunho works at the tie of Changmin’s robes, yanking them open and attaching his mouth to the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

Changmin cries out when Yunho bites him. His hand tangles in golden hair and his brow furrows with pain and he arches up, wanting more, wanting it harder. Yunho sucks a bruise onto his skin with relish before pulling away with one last kiss. He guides Changmin to lie back against the table and yanks his silk trousers down and off.

Changmin pants up at him, robe crumpled under him and hanging off his arms, chest heaving and nipples beaded tight. Yunho puts a knee on the carved wood of the table and climbs over him, hands pinching and rolling his nipples until Changmin cries out and thrashes beneath him.

“Oh please – they’re so sensitive today – ” he manages. Yunho laughs and stops torturing him. They kiss again, hips pressed together and erections rubbing against each other. The table creaks ominously and Changmin pants out a laugh.

“If this table breaks our shame shall be quite paramount,” he says.

“I will simply say that it broke in the process of carrying out our royal duties,” Yunho kisses his shoulder, admiring the purple and blue bruise blooming on Changmin’s neck.

“Fucking me is your royal duty now?” Changmin laughs.

“Of course,” Yunho murmurs, occupied with another expanse of smooth skin. “Our royal duty and our royal pleasure.”

Changmin grins and fumbles at Yunho’s clothes, yanking his vest open and tugging his pants down just enough to free his cock. He takes the shaft in hand and strokes, and Yunho gasps and hunches over him.

“Oh my darling,” he breathes. “You are – so very good at that – ah!”

Changmin squeezes and swipes his thumb over the head, working Yunho slowly. After a few minutes he bites his lip and sits up, and Yunho straddles him and rises to his knees. It puts his cock at Changmin’s eye level and he looks up at Yunho slowly and licks his lips.

Yunho moans. He slides long fingers in Changmin’s hair and guides his head forward and Changmin takes his cock in his mouth. He sucks the head slowly, then slides his mouth lower and takes the length down his throat. Yunho gasps and lets his head fall back. The council chamber fills with the sound of suction and soft moans. Someone could walk in through the door at any moment, and the threat of discovery raises their ardor.

Changmin slides off his cock and works Yunho with both hands, panting hard and lips red and bruised. Yunho can see his own erection curving up towards his stomach and he suddenly feels greedy for neglecting Changmin’s pleasure.

“Lie back,” he says softly. Changmin looks surprised, but he lies back down and looks up at him questioningly.

Yunho arranges himself over Changmin, knees on either side of his head, and lowers his mouth to lick at Changmin’s thick erection. His husband moans and arches up and Yunho takes him in his mouth. He hums in pleasure when Changmin guides his cock back into his mouth, heat squirming through him.

They suck each other with relish, throats working and hands stroking what they can’t fit in their mouths. Changmin thinks he could happily die like this, with Yunho on top of him making small thrusts into his mouth and sucking him off at the same time. He slurps around his cock, gets wet and dirty with it, and almost screams when Yunho suddenly sinks lower on his length and closes his throat around him.

Yunho’s cock slips out of his mouth and Changmin pants, keens, thrusting up and up before coming with a cry down Yunho’s throat. His husband drinks him down, lapping kitten-like around his length before pulling off with a satisfied groan. He rests his head on Changmin’s thigh and gasps as Changmin goes back to sucking him, dazed from orgasm but more eager than ever to get Yunho off.

It takes only a few minutes before Yunho thrusts one last time in his mouth and unloads with a gasp. He climbs off the table slowly and gets shakily to his legs just in time to see Changmin’s throat work as he swallows. The sight of him sprawled out on the table, body glistening with sweat and lips raw and red, is almost enough to get Yunho hard again right away.

Changmin sits up with a satisfied glint in his eye and licks his lips.

“My lord,” he says, eyes hooded, as Yunho fixes his clothing. Yunho gives him a heated look. “That was – ”

Yunho cuts him off with a kiss, hot and eager, and Changmin responds with equal fire. They twine their tongues together and taste each other with soft moans.

Yunho draws away slowly and licks his lips. He watches as Changmin gets to his feet and bends to pull his pants back on.

“You mustn’t ravish me in such inappropriate places,” he admonishes belatedly. Yunho grins and wraps his arms around him.

“Well then you mustn’t look so ravishing in inappropriate places,” he says. He kisses Changmin again, addicted to his soft mouth and the way he bites at his lips in retaliation.

There’s a knock on the door and they spring apart. Changmin hastily does up the ties of his robe just as a minister enters the room.

He freezes on the threshold, eyes travelling between their disheveled state and the suspiciously empty council table. Changmin’s face burns.

“Senator!” Yunho beams at the man. “Excellent news! My consort the moon prince is with child.”

The senator’s eyes go wide. “Praise the sun gods! This is incredible news,” he says.

“Indeed. I would declare a feast in his honour,” Yunho takes Changmin’s hand and hustles them all out of the room, and Changmin hides a grin.

 

\- - -

The news spreads quickly after that and people come from all over the land to congratulate the sun lord and pay their respects to his consort. They look at Changmin with awe, like he’s some otherworldly being, and he squirms uncomfortably under the scrutiny. He half expects the whispers of dark magic to start up again but if they do the people around him ensure they do not reach him. Jihye hugs him like a sister when she finds out, and confesses to Changmin with a wink that she’s never seen her brother more happy.

Yunho frets over him to the point of being burdensome. He has the royal physicians visit Changmin daily and check on his health. He tries to pass a decree that the high prince is to be carried everywhere until a fondly exasperated Changmin steps in and tells him he’s pregnant, not invalid, and that he is more than capable of walking.

He spends long hours in meditation, praying to the goddess in thanks, though eventually his expanding frame makes it impossible to kneel during prayers. Yunho urges him to relax but Changmin is restless, uncomfortable with all the changes happening in his body. His moods fluctuate faster than the phases of the moon; he is happy one day and spends the next sobbing desolately, and Yunho increasingly abandons his duties to spend time with him.

A few months in a lone rider enters the palace and is led to the prince’s audience chamber. Changmin rises when he sees her, a brilliant smile lighting his face.

“Sooyeon!” he says. She runs to him and they embrace tightly, and then she draws back to touch his growing belly.

“So it’s true,” she says, voice hushed. She looks a lot like him, though her features are somewhat less delicate than his and her hair a shade lighter.

“What are you doing here?” Changmin says. Sooyeon grins at him.

“I’ve been pardoned,” she says. “I rode here as soon as I received the scroll.”

“How – ” he looks up and sees Yunho passing by the doorway. His husband gives him a small smile, and Changmin understands.

“You did that for me?” he asks him in bed later than night.

“You’re giving me a child, the least I could do is give you your sister back,” Yunho says.

“How sweet,” Changmin murmurs. “I suppose it’s not possible you did it so somebody else could be burdened with me throughout the day,” he lifts an eyebrow in question.

Yunho blinks at him. “Burdened? You have never burdened me.”

“You missed three council meetings in this week alone,” Changmin says. He sits up slowly and bites back a groan as his back aches with the action. “I know that – I’ve been difficult – ”

Yunho sits up too and looks at him, at the way his cheeks have filled out with baby weight, at the growing swell of his stomach. There’s a soft glow to Changmin of late that makes him more breathtaking than ever, and Yunho leans over and presses a kiss to his cheek.

“Yes, you’ve been difficult,” he says. He kisses Changmin’s neck. “You have woken me in the middle of the night craving food that doesn’t exist in this land.” He kisses Changmin’s ear. “You have demanded daily back rubs and foot massages and dismissed three maids simply because they smelled wrong.” Yunho kisses Changmin’s nose and smiles at the guilty look on his face.

“You have done all those things and yet I would not exchange a second of it for the world,” Yunho says, and kisses Changmin’s pouting mouth. He guides him to lie back down and kisses him hard and deep, and when he draws back Changmin looks dazed.

“My council will live without me,” Yunho says. “I would happily spend another nine months serving at your beck and call than sitting in on meetings with stuffy old men.”

The giggle that escapes Changmin at that makes Yunho’s heart clench with happiness. He kisses him again, and when he starts to pull away Changmin yanks him back down and bites at his lips. Their kisses become more heated and Yunho runs his hands down Changmin’s body, stroking the curve of his stomach. Changmin moans and arches up against him.

“Please,” he breathes. Yunho undresses him carefully and urges him onto his side, and when they join their cries fill the room.

A few weeks later a commotion in the main palace courtyard draws a small crowd. Changmin is lying on a chaise with his head in Sooyeon’s lap, listening to her tales of living in exile as she strokes his hair. He sends Kyuhyun to see what the fuss is about and Kyuhyun returns looking triumphant.

“Good news – the royal guards have captured Namsoo. He’s been brought to the palace to face the king’s justice,” he reports.

Changmin sits up slowly and several hands reach out to steady him. He’s heavily pregnant now, the babe stretching his body to its limits. Last night he’d felt it kick several times, and Yunho had spent an hour with his ear pressed to his stomach cooing to it.

Somehow the news of Namsoo’s capture makes him more uneasy than glad. Yunho’s stepmother had been transferred to a remote jail months ago after confessing to treason, but Changmin knows there are still some in the palace who are loyal to them.

“What will the king do with him?” he asks.

“Send him to the same jail as his mother no doubt,” Kyuhyun shrugs. “The sentence for treason is death but my lord is likely to be lenient on family. He’s being held in a palace jail in the meantime.”

Changmin nods, and when Sooyeon suggests they take a stroll through the gardens he agrees and loops his arm through hers.

Later that day Changmin finds a moment alone and slowly makes his way up a flight of stairs to the royal aviary. Yunho kept insisting he avoid stairs but someone had brought in an injured dove the day before and Changmin wants to check on it.

He pauses at the top of the steps to catch his breath, one hand absently stroking his stomach. He feels the babe move a little and smiles.

Changmin has taken only a few steps when a door opens to his left, and then a sword is at his throat and he freezes.

Namsoo emerges from the room beyond and stands before him, his sword held neatly at Changmin’s bare neck and a wicked glint in his eye. Namsoo’s gaze briefly drops to his stomach and then back up.

“So the tales are true,” he says. Changmin swallows and takes a step back, and Namsoo follows with a narrow look. “Unnatural spawn,” he says, then smirks. “I should’ve fucked you when I had the chance, then perhaps it would be my bastard child in your belly now.”

“What do you want,” Changmin says coldly. He tries not to panic; the steps loom behind him ominously, he’s unarmed and Namsoo has a sword.

“You’ve been a thorn in my side since you first arrived in this palace,” Namsoo hisses. “Flouncing around like you own the place, influencing the sun lord with your unnatural customs, forcing me to flee my own home when my mother tried to rid us of you – and now this new abomination.” His sword presses harder, opening a shallow cut on Changmin’s neck, and Changmin makes a pained sound. His eyes dart around the hallway for an escape, but he’ll be too slow to outrun Namsoo; he could yell, but the king’s stepbrother would kill him before anyone arrived.

“How did you escape the jail?” Changmin asks to buy himself some time. Namsoo chuckles.

“Yunho may have forgotten the old ways in his infatuation with you but there are those who are still loyal to the sun gods, who can see how the witch prince of the moon has ensnared him,” he says. He takes a step forward, forcing Changmin back towards the edge of the stairs.

“You know, it would be a real pity for me if your child was born,” Namsoo says conversationally. “My claim to the throne would substantially weaken; the lords I have managed to rally to my side would buckle, for who could deny a legitimate heir to the throne?”

Changmin’s eyes widen. His heartbeat quickens and he puts a hand protectively on his stomach.

“Please,” he starts.

“Such a tragic tale – the expectant prince falls down a flight of stairs. He should’ve been more careful. Should’ve watched his step.”

Tears fill Changmin’s eyes and he gasps. “Please don’t,” he breathes. But he already knows it’s useless, knows it from the mad glint in Namsoo’s eye. There’s a beat, then Changmin tries to dodge to the side. Namsoo drops his sword and catches him, taking hold of his shoulders.

“Goodbye little prince,” he breathes in Changmin’s ear, and gives him a hard shove.

Changmin tumbles down the stairs with a cry, the sandstone unforgiving on his body. He tries to curl in on himself as he falls, tries to protect the baby. His head hits the bottom step, and within moments he blacks out.

 

\- - -

A maid passing by the area a few minutes later finds the prince’s crumpled body, and screams and screams until help arrives. They carry him into the royal bedchamber and the physicians work fast, stemming the blood from his head wound and whispering thanks that he’s still breathing. There are cuts on his hands and bruises all over his body, and they carefully peel his clothes off to attend to them.

Sooyeon bursts into the room just as Changmin blearily opens his eyes. She rushes to his side and takes his hand, and Changmin grips back weakly.

“What happened?” she demands of the doctors.

The head physician shakes his head.

“He was found at the bottom of the eastern steps. It’s clear he fell but I do not know what happened my lady,” he says.

“Sooyeon,” Changmin whispers. His ribs are bruised and his breathing labored. “The baby. The baby – ”

The doctors exchange worried looks.

“It’s hard to say – ” one of them starts.

“Save them,” Sooyeon snarls, and they jerk into action at her tone.

Seconds later the door is yanked open and Yunho stands there, framed against the dying light of the sunset and almost glowing with anger. Changmin’s eyes fill with tears as soon as he sees him.

“Who did this?” Yunho breathes. The room grows silent, everyone except Sooyeon cowering in the face of his rage. “ _Who did this!_ ” Yunho thunders when nobody answers him.

Changmin starts to cry, painful, keening sobs that wrack his bruised body, and Yunho sinks to his knees beside the bed and takes his other hand.

“I’m sorry,” Changmin gasps. “I’m sorry – I should have listened to you – ”

“No,” Yunho breathes. “No my love – tell me, tell me what happened.”

“Namsoo – ” Changmin stutters. Yunho’s eyes widen, then swivel upwards as a new figure in the doorway interrupts Changmin.

“My lord,” the captain of his guard says. “Namsoo has escaped the palace. We have captured the guards who set him free.”

“Execute them,” Yunho says.

His captain’s eyes widen – it’s an uncommonly harsh sentence. “My lord – ” he starts.

“Do as I say,” Yunho snaps, and the man snaps to attention.

“Yes my lord,” he bows and takes his leave.

Sooyeon is regarding him with some unfathomable expression when their eyes meet.

“Who exactly is Namsoo?” she asks quietly.

“Our stepbrother,” Jihye enters the room, admirably calm despite the circumstances. Sooyeon’s eyes narrow.

“What manner of family has Changmin married into?” she hisses.

“ _step_ brother,” Jihye emphasises. “He has been in exile and was awaiting trial for treason.”

“The babe still breathes,” the head physician announces, and a collective sigh of relief rises from everyone in the room. “However,” he continues. “His highness is weak and I do not know for how much longer the child will live. We must operate now if we are to save them both.”

They all stare at him with bated breath and he swallows and lifts his chin.

“We can do this, but you must clear the room.”

It’s a measure of their state of shock that the sun lord, his sister and the high prince’s sister all rise to obey him without question. Changmin clings to Yunho’s hand and refuses to let go, panic in his eyes.

“Don’t leave me,” he whimpers. Yunho kisses his forehead and strokes his hair, uncaring of their audience, uncaring of anything but the pain in Changmin’s eyes that’s ripping his heart to shreds.

“Be strong my darling,” he whispers. “Be strong and patient like I know you are, and I will be here when you wake.”

He presses their foreheads together, then slips his hand out of Changmin’s and heads outside.

Restlessness takes Yunho as soon as the door shuts behind him. Anger burns under his skin; he can’t just wait around and do nothing. He needs action. He needs justice.

“Bring my horse,” he commands a hovering servant. He mounts up and buckles his sword, eyes on the horizon. Jihye watches him with crossed arms; Sooyeon has disappeared.

“Where are you going?” she says.

“I’m going to find him,” Yunho says. He rears his horse around and meets her eye. “I’m going to find him and I’m going to kill him.”

Twenty of his guards meet him in the courtyard and they head out through the palace gates at a gallop. A lone rider joins them at the crest of a hill and matches pace with Yunho’s horse. He looks to his side and sees his sister-in-law, bow on her back and swords at her sides.

“You’re sure Namsoo went this way?” Sooyeon says.

“Yes. I know his hideout.”

“Good,” Sooyeon says. “Let’s find the bastard.”

They lean forward over their horses and ride harder, dust flying in the air behind them.

 

\- - -

Changmin drowns in pain. The physicians give him a medicine to induce labour and try to calm him, tell him to breathe deeply, but it _hurts_ , his body is on fire and they haven’t even cut him open yet –

He screams until his throat goes sore and then they give him a sedative and he passes out. The sheets become stained with blood as the doctors work through the night, struggling to save two lives.

Towards dawn Changmin rises to consciousness again. His vision blurs but he makes out Jihye at his bedside, her head bowed over clasped hands as she prays. She looks up when he stirs and takes his hand.

“Yunho? Where is Yunho?” Changmin whispers. His head spins and his body screams with pain and if he’s dying he wants to see Yunho one last time.

Jihye’s eyes fill with tears.

“He will be here,” she says.

Changmin closes his eyes. “Tell him I love him,” he whispers.

He passes out again with the sound of Jihye’s quiet sobs ringing in his ears.

 

\- - -

Morning dawns and the sun lord rides back into his palace, streaked with the sweat and grime of battle. He dismounts before his horse has come to a stop and strides to the royal bedchamber where his husband lies, Sooyeon not far behind him.

The sound of a baby crying makes them both pause, and then they’re running. Yunho flings open the door and stops breathing; Jihye is standing in the middle of the empty room, tears on her cheeks and a baby cradled in her arms. She looks up and smiles at him.

“Hello,” she says. “Come meet your son.”

Yunho takes him from her carefully and smiles down at the wrinkled little face of his baby boy. The tiny weight of him fills his heart with joy.

Then he looks over to the bed. The blood-stained sheets have been replaced and Changmin is lying still on them, bandaged up and deep asleep.

“How is he?” he asks, taking a seat on the bed. Changmin’s skin is pale and against it his lips look redder than ever.

“Weak. But he’s alive,” Jihye says, and relief washes through Yunho. He lets Sooyeon take the baby and leans over Changmin and kisses him softly.

Changmin’s eyes flutter open. At first he looks confused, but his expression soon clears and he smiles up at Yunho.

“You came,” he breathes.

“Of course,” Yunho kisses his cheek. Sooyeon takes a seat on the bed and he smiles at her. “Look,” he tells Changmin, and Changmin turns his head and sees his son in her arms.

His face fills with awe, then pure, blissful joy. He starts to sit up but Jihye puts a hand out and stops him.

“The doctors said you are not to move yet – the stitches are still fresh,” she says.

Yunho looks around at her. “The physicians? Where are they?”

“I told them to rest. They toiled throughout the night.”

“Please give them 50 gold coins each in thanks for their hard work,” he says. It’s a small fortune, and Jihye nods and squeezes his shoulder before leaving to do his bidding.

“Please,” Changmin says, eyes on his son. “I want to hold him.”

They maneuver the sleeping baby onto his chest and Changmin cradles him carefully, uncaring that his weight makes his bruises ache. Yunho leans down and kisses him again and Changmin kisses back desperately, speechless with delight. Their noses brush and they nuzzle together and smile and smile, and Yunho thinks his heart might burst it feels so full.

When they draw apart he sees that Sooyeon is watching them with a soft look on her face. She climbs onto the bed and curls up beside Changmin, and he leans into her with a sigh.

“Where did you go?” he asks her. Sooyeon and Yunho exchange a glance.

“We went in pursuit of Namsoo,” Yunho says eventually. Changmin’s expression darkens.

“And?” he says.

“He’s dead,” Sooyeon says. “I brought him down with an arrow and Yunho did the rest.”

“Good,” Changmin says, his arms tightening around his baby, and it’s a measure of Namsoo’s wickedness that even someone as soft and sweet as Changmin could wish him dead.

Sooyeon kisses Changmin’s forehead and gets to her feet.

“I’ll leave you two alone. Call me if you need anything?” she says.

“I will,” Changmin smiles at her and she takes her leave.

Yunho removes his shoes and outer clothing and crawls into bed with Changmin. He lifts their son into his arms and kisses his cheek and cradles his little head, and Changmin watches him with a small smile on his face.

“What shall we name him?” he asks.

“Name him anything you like but he will always be my little sun prince, my miracle baby,” Yunho coos. The baby opens his eyes and blinks up at him, and Yunho makes a delighted sound.

Changmin laughs softly. “I always liked the name Ari,” he says.

“Ari?” Yunho muses. “Prince Ari of the Sun kingdom. I like it,” he looks down and bounces the baby in his arms. “Do you like it?”

The baby gurgles and gives him a gummy smile, and they both burst out laughing.

“Ari it is then,” Yunho says. He tucks Ari in between them and lies down, noting the flash of pain that crosses Changmin’s face as the bed jostles with his movements. He stills and touches Changmin’s cheek softly.

“Does it hurt?” he asks. Changmin nods and Yunho kisses him. “Forgive me. I’ll call the physicians to check on you as soon as they wake. But for now – ” A massive yawn cuts him off. “I’m exhausted,” Yunho mumbles.

“Sleep,” Changmin says. “No doubt the baby will wake us when it deems appropriate.”

Yunho chuckles and drifts off, one arm curled protectively over Changmin and their son.

 

\- - -

_6 months later_

Changmin sits on a garden swing and hums absently, enjoying the afternoon sun.

Ari is a warm weight in his arms, busy suckling on a milk bottle. He's grown nice and plump, his looks startlingly like Changmin's - all soft curls and big brown eyes and a mouth that pouts naturally. He squirms and Changmin looks down to see that he's finished his bottle. He pulls it away and when a guard appears at his side Changmin hands it to him with a smile.

Yunho had grown so protective of him since Ari’s birth he had ordered a bodyguard to shadow Changmin everywhere he went, but the man is so gentle he’s become more of a makeshift wet nurse. Jihye keeps insisting Changmin get an actual wet nurse to help care for the baby but Changmin doesn’t see the need; he likes caring for Ari himself, even if it means doing less than pleasant things like diaper changes.

He lifts the baby to his shoulder to burp him and Ari gurgles and drools on his impeccable silk robe, pudgy little legs kicking in the air. Changmin gives him a wry smile.

“If you ruin any more of my clothes I think the royal seamstress will banish me from the palace,” he says. Ari laughs and lays his head on his shoulder and Changmin bites back a grin.

He lifts the baby to eye level and presses noisy wet kisses to his cheeks. Ari squirms and squeals in protest and fists both hands in Changmin’s clothes. Changmin laughs and cuddles him to his chest.

He’d healed slowly after his fall and the surgery, but finally he can walk around with ease again. He’s not back to his old strength yet but if Ari’s life had been the price then it’s one he’s happy to pay.

He hears footsteps approaching and looks around, a smile curling his lips when he spots Yunho come into view and stop a short distance away. Yunho just stands there for a moment and gazes at him and the baby in his arms, and Changmin feels his breath catch in his throat at the look in his eyes.

“Ari look,” Changmin murmurs against the boy’s cheek. “It’s papa.”

Yunho grins and makes his way towards them. He sits on the swing and takes Ari from Changmin, kissing his soft baby cheeks before settling him against his chest.

“I thought I was to be father,” he says.

“ _I’m_ father,” Changmin corrects him. “You’re papa.”

“I’m the sun lord,” Yunho protests.

“Yes and you’ll do as I say,” Changmin smiles at him and Yunho subsides with a grumble.

The sun starts to set, turning the sky gold and pink. Ari yawns against Yunho’s chest and closes his eyes as Yunho strokes his back soothingly. Changmin lifts his feet and tucks them to the side, curling against Yunho with a sigh.

“Tired?” his husband asks softly.

“I’m okay,” Changmin murmurs.

Yunho turns his head and presses a kiss to his forehead and Changmin closes his eyes, warm with contentment.


End file.
